City manager pleads no contest to DUI charge

LAGUNA WOODS – City Manager Leslie Keane pleaded no contest in Orange County Superior Court Tuesday to a drunken driving charge, a misdemeanor stemming from a December arrest.

Keane faced one misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of alcohol and a second charge of driving while having a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent or more. The first charge was dismissed, according to court records.

Keane was sentenced on the second charge to three years informal probation, $390 in fines and three months in a first-offender alcohol program.

Keane, 65, who has been city manager since 1999, was arrested Dec. 21 at the Laguna Woods Golf Course on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Orange County District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Farrah Emami said a security guard at the golf course observed Keane stumbling. The guard locked the gate to the golf course parking lot to prevent Keane from leaving. The security guard then contacted the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

According to OCSD records, Keane was arrested and booked into the Intake and Release Center in Santa Ana. She was released early the next day.

A complaint filed by the District Attorney's Office stated Keane's blood-alcohol level was 0.14 percent, almost twice the legal limit. Her driver's license was suspended March 15, according to state Department of Motor Vehicle officials.